 | I believe that a story is only as good as its conclusion. The more finality and resolution that occurs in a story, the better. Some may push back and say that they have seen plenty of great movies or they have read plenty of fantastic books where there is some sort of open ending. But notice that I never said the conclusion needs to lead to overt or stated finality. For instance, in the movie “I Am Legend,” a movie most would say is pretty good, we see some protagonists at the end of the story arrive outside the gates of what we assume is a friendly safe haven. While the movie never tells us that our protagonists are safe, that the community is good, or that humanity overcomes the plague they are facing, the way the ending is presented sets up an implied conclusion that contains a great deal of finality. |
"Braveheart" is another great example of this sort of tactic. Despite the tragic loss of the main protagonist, and with no victory scenes of the rebels who carry on his cause, the final ambiguity still implies all sorts of notions that lead to great finality (e.g. reconciliation, forgiveness, victory, unification, etc). If you find an amazing story that seems open-ended, I can almost guarantee you that there is some sense of finality woven in.
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